The 24th Convention of the ILWU Local 142 adopted the following resolution to honor the contributions and accomplishments of the Filipino sakada in Hawaii. Many of the sakada were ILWU members.
The first sugar workers from the Philippines arrived in Hawaii on December 20, 1906, aboard the SS Doric to work for the Ola’a Plantation on the Big Island. Over the next 40 years, the Hawaii Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA) brought more than 125,000 Filipinos to work on the sugar and pineapple plantations of Hawaii.
The Filipinos were called Sakada, the Visayan word for seasonal farm worker, and they braved unknown conditions and hardship to work in a foreign country, thousands of miles away from their homes in the Philippines. They endured long hours of backbreaking work to earn a little money to help support the families they left behind.
In 1909, the HSPA defeated a strike of 7,000 Japanese sugar workers on Oahu by hiring workers of other ethnic groups to replace the Japanese. Most of the striking workers were not rehired and the plantations looked to the Philippines for replacements. By importing large numbers of Filipinos, the planters could create a divided and more controllable workforce. By 1910, the HSPA was sending 3,000 workers a year to Hawaii from recruiting centers in Manila, Cebu, Iloilo and Bohol.
Filipino Labor Union
The early recruits came mostly from the Visayan Islands and worked under a three-year contract with the HSPA. They were paid $17 a month for working 10 hours a day for 26 days, or about 7 cents an hour. It didn’t take long before the Visayans were organizing protests and demanding better conditions. In 1920 they formed the Filipino Labor Union and coordinated their strike with the Japanese Labor Federation.
The HSPA was ruthless in putting down these strikes and arrested and deported the leaders. In 1924, Kauai police opened fire on a strike camp in Hanapepe and killed 16 Filipino workers. After the Hanapepe incident, the HSPA shifted their recruiting to the Ilocos area of the Luzon Islands. The planters wanted to keep the Filipinos divided between Ilocanos and Visayans. Recruitment of Ilocanos increased and reached 10,000 workers a year. By 1932, onehalf of the plantation workforce of 50,000 were Ilocano.
In 1944 Filipino and Japanese sugar workers on nearly every plantation organized under the ILWU banner. The workers had learned the bitter lessons from the past struggles. This time a single union united the workers of every ethnic group. The workers themselves ran the union, elected leaders from each ethnic group, and made sure all groups were included in union activities.
The effort to win World War II required management and labor to work together, so the HSPA had agreed to a collective bargaining agreement with the ILWU. This contract was set to expire in 1946 and the sugar industry made plans to break the union. The HSPA claimed there was a labor shortage and got an immigration exemption to bring 7,361 Ilocanos to Hawaii— 6000 men and 1361 women and children. Japan had occupied the Philippines during the war, and the HSPA thought they could turn the newly recruited Ilocanos against the ILWU since many sugar members were of Japanese ancestry.
ILWU organizes
The ILWU expected the showdown in 1946 and sent organizers to work as cooks and stewards on the SS Maunawili and SS Falcon, the two ships that would bring the Filipinos to Hawaii. During the long voyage, the ILWU organizers talked to the Filipino recruits and educated them about the union and the need for racial unity. When the Sakadas arrived in Hawaii, they were already signed up as ILWU members.
The HSPA refused to bargain in good faith and 25,000 ILWU sugar members voted to strike. The strike lasted for 79 days and ended with a victory for the union. It would be the first successful industry-wide, multiracial strike in Hawaii. Despite the hardships, the new Sakadas proved to be strong union members and resisted many attempts to get them to quit the union and cross the picket lines.
When the strike ended, the workers returned to their old jobs—cutting cane, fixing irrigation ditches, driving cane haulers, or running the mills. The jobs were the same, but the workers were changed forever. They now had an organization of their own, and the skills to run that organization.
The Sakadas played an important part in the working class movement that transformed Hawaii from a plantation society to a democratic and progressive state. The Sakadas resisted the abuse and unfair treatment on the job. They stood up against injustice by joining with other workers to improve their wages and working conditions. They overcame differences and united with workers of other races in a common struggle for dignity.
Union leaders
The Sakadas joined unions, became leaders and contributed their skills, energy and dedication to the success of the labor movement. Many rose to positions of top leadership within the unions. All five presidents of the ILWU Local 142 were Sakadas or their descendants: Antonio Rania, Calixto “Carl” Damaso, Erinio “Eddie” Lapa, Eusebio “Bo” Lapenia, Jr. and Fred Galdones.
Thanks to higher wages and better conditions brought about through unionization, the Sakadas were able to send substantial sums of money to their families in the Philippines. With better retirement benefits, many Sakadas were able to return to the Philippines and live comfortable lives. Those who made Hawaii their new home became part of the multiethnic community that makes our Islands unique in the world.
Therefore be it resolved, that this Convention of ILWU Local 142 salutes the Sakadas for their accomplishments in improving the lives of their families in the Philippines and in Hawaii and for the tremendous contributions they made to the labor movement in Hawaii. The Sakadas can be proud of their 100 years in Hawaii. ◆
Maui Pine contract ups wages
A new three-year contract will give Maui Pine members a 3 percent wage increase each year. The increases will put Maui Pine wages ahead of Dole and Del Monte when the contract expires on January 31, 2009. The total incease is roughly equal to about $1.45 an hour increae for the lowest labor grade to $2.35 an hour for the highest labor grade.
The Presidents Day and Kuhio Day holidays will be replaced by two floating holidays. A holiday on Christmas Day was added to the list of paid holiday for factory intermittents and plantation nonregulars.
The agreement claifies that the Fresh Fruit Packing Operation shall have the same rest period provisions as the Factory, which is two rest periods of no less than 10 minutes within each 7.7 consecutive hours of work.
The existing medical plan for pensioners, and the medical, dental, pension and long-term disability plans for regulars workers were extended to and including January 31, 2009.
An incentive bonus of 4 percent of their wages will be given to employees if the company achieves its net operating income goal for 2007 and/or 2008. Employees must work at least 95% of their available work opportunity hours to be eligible for this incentive bonus. ◆
Royal Lahaina joins Health & Welfare
Royal Lahaina Resort on Maui will become the fifth hotel to provide medical and dental benefits under the ILWU-Hotel Industry Health and Welfare Trust Fund. The Hyatt Regency Maui, the Grand Hyatt Kauai, the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island, and the Four Seasons Resorts Lana’i at Manele Bay and The Lodge at Koele are also in the Trust Fund. ◆
